Refrigerator



Oct. 11,1927. 1,645,103

R. A. GULICK ET AL REFRIGERATOR Filed June 12, 1924 2| lnvenTors. Russe" A. Gu|icK' Hurry H. Reed WWMx M' Anya.

Patented Oct. 11, 1927.

RUSSELL A. GULICK AND HARRY H. REED, OF WINTHROP, MASSACHUSETTS;

REFRIGERATOR.

. Application filed June 12, 1924. Serial No. 719,662.

This invention relates to a refrigerator and has for its principal object to provide a novel Construction by which any heat transferred around the door of the refrigerator will'cause an upward current of air to the top of the refrigerator space outside of the food-containing chambers so that any air which is warmed by this heat transfer will be delivered to the space containing the cooling medium and thus cooled before it comes in contact with the food.

Other features of our invention will be more fully hereinafterset forth in connection with the following description of a. se-

lected embodiment of our invention which we have chosen for the purpose vof illustrating the principle thereof.

Fig. 1 is a front view ofa-refrigerator embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on theline 2-2, Fig. 1 showing the door closed;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 2.

The refrigerator herein illustrated is a portable refrigerator provided with the bottom 1, top 2, sides 3 and the back formed in the sections 7 8 and 9 which are suitably connected together, the joints 31 between said sectionsand-the top and bottom being made tight in anyusual way.

Portable refrigerators such as herein de scribed are sometimes provided with a single door opening and sometimes are provided with a plurality of door openings. Our invention is adaptable to either type of re frigerator. The device shown in the drawings has the two door openings 16 and 17 at the front, these being separated by a post 18.

- These openings are closed by doors 19 and 20 of any suitable construction.

21 indlcates a base on which the refrigerator is supported and which may be of any desirable construction or material. The interior of the refrigerator is provided with a a space for receiving the cooling medium and another space or spaces for receiving the material to b'erefrigfated. The Spaces for re-- ceiving the cooling medium and the materlal to be refrigerated may have any relative arrangement withoutdeparting from the; 1n-

vention. The construction shown in the drawingsds one in which a vertical parti tion 22 is provided, which may conveniently be of sheet metal, and which is located substantially centrally of the structure, 'said partition being shown assituated back of the post 18 and extending from the latter to the back wall. The space on one side of this partition is divided by a horizontal partition or shelf 23 to form a bunker 24 for the refrigerating medium and food compartment 25 situated below the bunker. The space on the other side of the partition 22 is shown as divided by a partition or shelf 26 to form two food-compartments 27,28.

The partition 22 terminates above the floor of the refrigerator and below the top of the refrigerator thus leaving passages 29 and 30 that provide for the usual circulation of air.

The principal feature of our invention relates to a construction by which any heat transferrence that occurs around'the edges of the doors 19 and 20 will create an upward current of air to the top of the refrigerator outside of the food-containing chambers so that any air heated by this heat transferrence will be conveyed to the top of the, refrigerator without being brought into contact with the material being refrigerated. We accomplish this by providing a set of inner doors for the food-containing compartments which are slightly se arated from the main doors 19, 20 so that t e space between these doors will constitute a flue which'is open to the interior of refrigerator at the upper end. We will preferably use a door for each of the compartments, that is, two inner doors 32, and 33 for the compartments 27 and 28, a corresponding door 34 for the food compartment 25 and a similar door for the bunker 24. These doors may be supported in any suitable way and as illustrating one construction we have shown a sheet metal door frame which sets within the door openings and which overlies the front of the The peripheral edge of this metal frame is shown as bent around the corners of the refrigerator structure asshown at 521 The-- inner doors 32, 33, 34 can conveniently be united to this metal door frame... This, however, is only one suggested construction and we do not regard the invention as limited theretfiu Theseinner doors 32, 33, 34 are spaced slightly from the innen faces of the main doors 19 and 20 thereby fdrlfi'ng a flue 39 between the inner and outer doors. The't'opw edges of the upper doors are also spaced slightly from the top of the refrigerator as bunker com shown at 38 and 'with this construction if there is any heat transferrence around the main doors 19, 20 which tends to heat the air in the refrigerator next to the door this heatedair will rise through the flue 39 and will be delivered over the top of the upper doors into the space at the top of the refrigerator where it 'will mingle with any other air which rises through the food-containing chambers and will then pass over the artment through the opening 30 and there y become cool.

By establishing this flue construction any air which'is thus heated by heat transferrence around the main doorswill be carried up outside of the food-containing compartment instead I of being delivered thereto. With this arrangement the temperature of the food-containing compartment is not appre ciably affected by an leakage around the main doors of the refi 'igerator as would be the case if the air heated by the heat transferrence due to such leakage were delivered directly to the food compartments.

We have herein illustrated the lower doors 33, 34 as having their lower edges slightly above the bottom of the but this is not essential.

The outer surface of walls may be covered with a I wood or may be covered with a coating of mastic or plaster or any other suitable material depending" upon the character of the finish which it is desired that the refrigerrefrigerator space sheathing of ator should have.

We claim:

1. A refrigerator having refrigerator spaces which includes a food-containing compartment and a compartment adapted to contain a refrigerating medium, said refrigerator havinganbpening leading to the food-containing compartment, a main door closing said opening, and means situated between the mam door and the food-contain ing compartment and forming with the main door a flueoutside of the food-containing compartment which leads to the re frigerator space at the top thereof, said means forming a partition between the flue and the food-containing compartment wherej by any heat transferrence around the main door of the refri rator will cause an up ward current Offlll' through said flue which will convey the heat thus transferred to the top of the refrigerator space through a pasthe refrigerator in the up said main door will cause an upward current of air through said flue by which the heat thus transferred will be conveyed to the top of the refrigerator space through a passage outside of the food compartment.

3. A refrigerator provided with a space in the upper portion thereof for containing a refrigerating medium and another space communicating therewith and adapted to contain material to be refrigerated,- a door opening leading to one of said spaces, a door for closing said opening, and means situated between said door and said space and forming with the door a flue outside of said space which leads to the upper portion of the refrigerator, whereby any heat transferrence around the door will cause an, upward current of air through said flue which will convey the heat thus transferred to the upper part of the refrigerator through a passage outside of the space to which said door opens.

4. A refrigerator provided with a space per portion thereof to contain a refrigerating medium and also provided with a food-containing space' which communicates with the first-named space, a door opening leading to one of main door for closing the door opening, an inner door spaced from the main door and forming therewith a fluewhich leads to the. upper portion of the refrigerator whereby anyl heat transferrence around the main door wi cause an upward current of air through flue by which the heat thus transferred will be conveyed to the upper part of the refrigerator through a passage outside of the space to,which said door opens. a

In testimony sald spaces, a

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whereof, we have signed our names to this specificatlon. 

